New member looking for advice

[Hunterschock]

I am new to chickens and just picked up 12 chicks, 7 are isa browns and five are americanas.
I live in central Minnesota and am currently building a coop, my main question is do I need to insulate the coop for the cold winters?

 

[fldiver97]

Nice to have you here!
I used to live in Wisconsin. My old coop there did not have insulation or electricity. It was a large old shed that I gutted, put vinyl flooring remnant over the old wood floor and cut several windows and vent openings high up into the walls. Chickens need a well ventilated coop but no drafts. The top vents were well above the roost levels. The windows had screens (reinforced with 1/2 inch hardware cloth same as the vents) and were part way open in mild winter weather. Chickens will tolerate cold as long as the coop is well ventilated and doesn’t hold the moisture from accumulation of poop.
Here is a link to coops, run and maintenance
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forums/#raising-backyard-chickens.64
You may get a lot of good ideas there, coops of all types sizes and situated in different climates

 

[Debbie292d]

Hiya, and welcome to BYC!

We're next door in Wisconsin. You can insulate to help keep out the cold, as even the chickens in there will keep it a few degrees above what it is outside, but ventilation is also important, regardless.

We heat our coops to 40°F and use Cozy Coop radiant heaters in the growout pens. We use horse bedding pellets on the floors, as they help keep ammonia down by drying out the poo. We also use DIY 5-gallon nipple buckets, so no open water. All of this helps keep the humidity down, which is another problem here. Our coops stay at around 60% even though it's 70+% often outside.

The farmer across the road doesn't heat or insulate and lost a year-old hen a few weeks ago during that -20F weather. One day is one thing, but when they have to go days/weeks like that, the weaker ones can't keep themselves going that long.